In Finnish we have “kissanristiäiset” (literally means a cat’s christening), which means some trivial and meaningless celebration/event.
In Finnish we have “kissanristiäiset” (literally means a cat’s christening), which means some trivial and meaningless celebration/event.
I always had problems with that idiom in English, until someone pointed to me that it’s backwards just because it sounds better, it means “You can’t eat your cake and have it too”, i.e. if you eat the cake you don’t have it anymore, so you can’t both have and eat it at the same time.
This idiom confused me for the longest time, because I use “have” and “eat” very interchangeably. “Are you going to have dinner?” etc. I didn’t see that, rather, they meant “have” as a synonym for “keep”.
And yeah, it’s definitely backwards. “Have” doesn’t suggest “will have”, it’s a present term only. I have a cake, can I eat it? Yes. Switching the order makes more sense. Furthermore, I think “keep” at least suggests long term.
I propose “You can’t eat your cake and keep it too”
Yet still, who ever eats a whole cake? I definitely keep some for later.
Have and eat are both present looking to the future in this insane. Like have it in the future if you eat it now. It does make sense, but I do understand your gripe
I remember learning it as a semi-historical idiom, that nice white cakes and frostings could be expensive, so poor people would pay to have a pretty looking cake that’s mostly for show that’s like a prop or for a nice tasting cake that doesn’t look grand or large. Old guy could have been telling a tale though.